Safe In My Arms
by Midnight Fortune
Summary: Ikuto and Amu seperate for a period of time. Amu feels crushed and wonders if she will ever see that perverted cat-cosplaying boy again. Summary sucks, story may not suck, depends on you EPILOGUE ON THE WAY! I hate ending things like that


Amu was walking through the park on her way back from Guardian duties. As usual, she had sat and done absolutely nothing, everyone insisting that as the Joker she needed to keep her energy up and not bother herself with all of those bothersome things that the other Guardians did every day. After an hour of this, Tadase finally called the meeting to a close and everyone was able to go home, relief flowing out from even Nagihiko. On her way out, Rima had offered Amu a ride home, for the relationship between her and her parents had improved greatly for the better, and they were more interested in the affairs of the Guardians. Amu had of course turned her down for two reasons: she knew it was way out the way to go to her house, and she felt that today was a walking day.

So now she was rather bored as she walked home. It was only a couple of months until she graduated from elementary school. Her mind was beginning to wonder what she was going to do with her middle school choice. She wouldn't mind going to the middle school where Kuukai went to. He seemed happy there, or maybe she should leave the country and try and find Nadeshiko. But even she knew that the odds of her parents letting her go on a trip out of country, let alone all over the world in search of her friend, was slim to none. For now, she would just let her mind wander free and not worry about this kind of stuff, especially since Ikuto had gone missing.

'_Ikuto…where are you?'_ Amu thought to herself as tears prickled in her eyes. She hastily wiped them away. If she cried, she would be breaking a promise she made to herself: to not cry until Ikuto was safe and she could talk to him again.

While she was thinking this over, her Charas were talking amongst themselves. Dia, Miki, and Suu knew what was wrong, but Ran had no idea what was going on with her friend. "Amu-chan hasn't been acting like herself lately," Ran said obviously.

Miki wanted to strangle Ran, "That is the understatement of the year." Ran glared at Miki and stuck out her tongue. Suu got in the middle and tried to calm them both down. Dia just watched, smiling slightly, but at the same time, she felt rather weak. Amu had begun to stop believing in her inner sparkle, and it had been affecting her more and more lately, but she knew now was not the best time to tell Amu that she may go back into her egg for some time.

Suu sweatdropped while Miki and Ran started to attack each other. She looked over to Dia and noticed a small smile plastered on her face, sadness evident in her eyes. She flew over to Dia. "You should tell Amu-chan soon. Otherwise, if you go back into your Egg without her knowing, she might go farther down the path she is going on right now."

Dia nodded. She knew perfectly well that Amu was having some troubles in her life right then and there, but if Amu gave up in her, there was nothing that she could do. "Amu-chan must realize herself what is going on, or it won't be right."

Suu gasped and began to cry. "But what if Amu-chan doesn't realize it soon enough? Won't you have no choice but to give in to your Egg?"

Dia nodded again, but had no response this time. _'Amu just needs to find the one thing that will make her better, but he is nowhere to be found right now…'_

- Flashback -

Amu had zoned out and heard nothing that her Charas had been saying. She had been thinking about the past five months. First, Utau's career had finally taken off and she was beginning to become well-recognized again, which made it hard for her and Amu to go shopping. After that, Utau and Kuukai announced that they were going out, followed closely by Rima and Tadase (which crushed Amu's heart, but she fought through her tears and wished them the best of luck in their relationship). A month after that, Nagihiko and Yaya started to hang out more and more, and the next thing Amu knew, they were an official couple. It had dawned on her two months ago that she was the only one who was alone, but another thought struck her mind shortly after: who does Ikuto have?

At first, she had pushed the thought back, but day after day it came back, stronger with each passing minute until it was the only thought that preoccupied her mind. Her heart began to beat faster whenever she thought of him, and she had had to talk to him about it. That was about when things at Easter began to get out of control. Ikuto had sent her a text asking her to meet him at the amusement park a month and a half ago. She had of course gone running, thinking this was her moment, thinking this was her chance to talk to Ikuto about how she felt.

When she got to the park, a surprise was waiting for her. Ikuto was in a cage and the three crazy Easter lab workers had evil smirks printed across their faces. The main one hit a button and thousands of X-Eggs poured out from every direction. Amu's eyes widened and she instantly had Character Transformed with Dia, her strongest ally in these massive battles.

One of the goons laughed and stepped forward, saying, "I wouldn't be so fast to do that, Guardian." He pulled a dial out of God knows where and began to turn it up. The cage Ikuto was in began to hum with electric energy and Amu could see him getting massively shocked. He was having trouble containing his screams, but as the dial was turned up even more, he could no longer keep them in. His voice had ripped through the air, and Amu felt true heartache and terror for the first time in her life.

"IKUTO!" She screamed starting to run towards him. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage, the adrenaline coursing through her entire body. She ran right for the Easter goon and let her fist fly; hoping that all that 'Special Training' with Kuukai had somehow increased her strength.

It worked well enough for the control had flown from his hands and into her own. She turned the dial down to zero and threw it to the ground, crushing it under her foot. Something had snapped deep within herself, and she felt power pulsing throughout every cell in her body. "Ran, Miki, Suu!" She yelled. They nodded and the next thing Amu knew, she had transformed into Amulet Fortune for the second time in her life. She leaped into the middle of the X-Eggs and just hovered there for a minute, letting all her feelings gather in her heart.

After the charge up, she opened her eyes and screamed to the skies with her entire being. "OPEN HEART! FULL BLOOM!" Her voice echoed all around her and then her attack was unleashed. Thousands upon thousands of heart began to explode out from her, each seeking an X-Egg. She began to glow brighter and brighter until she was full enveloped by the light.

Ikuto watched from the ground, his arm raised to shield his eyes which were desperately searching for Amu. When the light began to die down, he felt that his strength had returned to him, and the cage surrounding him had disappeared. He stood up and looked to where Amu had been. His mouth opened slightly as he gazed upon her. She was…'_Beautiful'._ There was no other word that did justice to Amu at that point in time.

She turned to him as she slowly floated to the ground. "Ikuto-" She had whispered before suddenly being cut off by him wrapping his arms around her.

"Amu…Amu…" He said over and over, as if her name was the most precious gift on earth, and he was blessed enough to say it.

Amu had tensed at first, but was glad to have Ikuto hold her. "Ikuto, I need to tell you something."

He looked at her with wary eyes as he pulled back a bit. "What is it?"

And with that one question, Amu let loose a torrent of words that she hadn't even know resided within herself, "Ikuto, I don't know how to explain this, but I feel funny whenever you come around. I blush so much more for you than I did for Tadase. My heart skips beats when you say you are leaving. My mind has been constantly filled with you lately. My body goes numb when I don't see you for long periods of time. My eyes water whenever you are feeling bad. My hands want to run through your hair. My lips…" She blushed deeply and realized everything she had just said.

Ikuto smirked and then smiled a true smile. "It sounds like you have fallen in love with me, little perverted kid."

Amu immediately felt flustered, all words that had built inside her suddenly shut down. Ikuto's small comment made so much sense, and it would explain everything that she feels around him.

He began to worry when she didn't respond to his comment. He wanted her to say that she loved him, for he loved her himself. She pondered deeply and began to pace, deep concentration written all over her face.

She finally spoke after another ten minutes of pacing, "Are you ready for love?'

Her question had thrown Ikuto off his thought path. _'Am I ready to love? I feel that I am, but maybe Amu is not…'_

Amu began to worry. He normally was very quick with all his responses, but this one was taking quite some time. After five minutes of silence, she broke down and broke the white noise, "I should have figured…" She started to back away and then took off running.

Ikuto tried to chase after her, but he had no hopes of knowing where she had gone. "Amu, I am ready for love. I love you so much. But maybe you are the one who isn't ready," he said to no one in particular, but how was he supposed to know that Amu was only ten feet away, hiding behind a tree. "Maybe I need to go away for a bit so you can think this through…" His bangs shadowed his eyes as he walked off.

Amu's hand flew to her mouth as she slowly fell to her knees behind the tree. _'I'm the one who's not ready? But I thought that Ikuto wasn't ready, and that was why he didn't want to respond, that he didn't want to hurt me in any way…but it really is all my fault. Ikuto when I am ready, I will come look for you, and I will tell you then what I feel.'_

- End Flashback -

Amu came back to reality and sat down a bench. It had taken her two weeks, thinking through everything in her mind, to discover that she truly was ready for love. She had gone to Ikuto's house, but found it vacated. No sign of life was present in the dark house. _'Ikuto?'_

That had been a month ago, and Amu was still searching day in and day out for Ikuto. Getting restless again, she jumped off the bench and ran into the nearby trees, leaving her Charas to their talk. She ran and ran until she heard no vehicles, no people, no anything. She fell down from exhaustion and started to cry. _'It is taking so long, will I ever find him? I can feel Dia starting to get weaker, but I can't stop the doubt from growing inside me. The doubt that my light and my sparkle will never reach Ikuto again…'_

Then, after a month and a half without saying his name aloud, Amu did just that. "Ikuto," her voice came out as a whisper at first, and with each breath of his name, her volume increased, "Ikuto…Ikuto…IKUTO! Come back to me! Please, I need to know where you are! I want you to come home! I LOVE YOU!"

Amu heard a thump nearby and immediately panicked, her first thought the perverts that Ikuto had always talked about. When she heard no other noise, she got curious and walked over to the bush where she heard the thump. Her heart stopped beating, and her hand went flying to her mouth. "Ikuto," she said, her voice coming out choked and hurt.

He looked up at her weakly, "What took you so long you idiot? I can only follow you for so long."

Amu's eyes turned to saucers. Ikuto had been following her for all this time, waiting for her to openly say those three words. "Ikuto, are you alright?"

He smirked slightly, "I'll be fine, just give….me…a…" His voice trailed off. He had passed out right then and there.

"Ikuto? IKUTO?!?" Amu panicked. She felt his forehead and discovered that he was burning up. It seemed that he had not had sleep in quite some time. _'Again, I hurt him…'_

She pushed this thought out of her mind and lifted him up over her shoulder, like she had done before. Yoru followed sneakily after her, slightly mad at Amu. Once he got out of the woods, he flew over to her Charas. "Yo," he said cheerfully, glad that he could show himself to his favourite person again.

Miki's eyes shined when she saw him. "Yoru!" Everyone tackled him into a hug, Miki squeezing him the hardest.

Amu smiled at her Charas reunion, but she needed to get Ikuto to her house. "Ran, Character Change, okay?" Ran nodded and then Amu grew wings on her hands and feet. She threw Ikuto around her neck, his feet still touching the ground because Amu was still so much shorter than he was.

They took off into the night sky, and it was moments later that they landed on Amu's balcony. She grabbed a handle with one hand while the other held Ikuto's hands, preventing him from sliding off.

Amu tore the door open and ran inside, gently lowering Ikuto on to her bed. After getting him settled, she burst out of her door and ran to the bathroom, pulling a bucket and a cloth out of the closet on the way. She filled the bucket with icy water and threw the cloth in. Carefully, she returned to her room, the bucket held tightly.

Ikuto was beginning to sweat and Amu was panicking again. Her only thought was to cool him down, and she knew his forehead was not going to be enough. Gulping, she undid the buttons of his shirt, removing it entirely, and rolled his pants up. She took the cloth out of the water and started with his face, wiping it all down with the cold water. Then she started on his chest and stomach, followed by his arms, and finally his legs. Each time the cloth felt warm in her hand, she would stick it back into the water. She did this until the water in the bucket was warm.

Amu looked at her clock. It read 1:27 in the morning. She had been doing this since at least 11:00. Sleep was suddenly all her mind could think about, so she fell on to one of her beanbag chairs and immediately passed out. Her last conscious thought was _'Ikuto, please be alright…'_

-

Ikuto awoke in a warm room, at the same time he felt refreshed and cool. He looked down at his body and saw that he had no shirt on and his pants had been rolled up. Curious, he looked around the room and realized he was in Amu's room. One glance at the clock told him it was 4:31 in the morning. His eyes searched the room looking for a certain someone, and his eyes found her in what he felt was where she shouldn't be.

Amu was curled up into a ball, still in her school uniform, and apparently freezing as she was shaking like crazy. Ikuto stood up and noted the bucket with the rag hanging off its side. _'Did Amu help bring my fever down?'_

His expression softened more than before, and he kneeled down so he could pick her up bridal style.

"Ikuto, please be okay. I don't want to make you leave again," Amu whispered in her sleep, still shaking. Ikuto was a bit worried so her put her on the bed and tucked her in. After half an hour, she was still shivering so he took the route he had wanted so save for an extreme emergency. _'This is an emergency,'_ he thought to himself, _'Amu is freezing and it is all my fault, so I must warm her up.'_

He climbed under the covers and wrapped his arms around her waist bring her up to his chest. The affect was almost instantaneous, as she stopped shivering, and cuddled into his chest. "Good night, Amu, my love," he whispered as sleep took over his mind, glad that Amu was finally safe in his arms.


End file.
